Day 26: Dreux to Chartres

September 21, 2023

Heart

Comment

We are of course following the Classens in Spain, and today we read of how they were hit by a giant rainstorm. They have a great photo of a dry stream bed that became a torrent. Childishly trying to match this, I shot the street in front of the hotel this morning. The shot is not impressive, but as the morning progressed we did get some pretty torrential rainfall, cycled through deep lake like puddles and had some muddy torrents crossing the road. We had our rain jackets and pants and were ok, except that at 14 degrees we got quite thoroughly chilled.

The day started though with a heated interaction between me and the reception/breakfast lady. Last night she had me put our bike through the small kitchen to a locked parking area beyond. This morning, with both the kitchena and the door to the parking open, I walked through and returned with the first bike. I had passed through the door from the parking, when the lady pounced. "You have to ask permission to enter the kitchen", she said. "Errm, I am just retrieving my bike from where you had me put it" "The kitchen is private space, you have to ask permission!", was the reply. "Ok, fine, can I pass through your kitchen?" "Yes" "Well. THANK YOU VERY MUCH", I responded sarcastically. "But you understand I need to bring a second bike as well" "That's fine", she said.

When I got out to the breakfast room, Dodie had heard the argument, but did not know the substance. When I explained, she again recommended that in such cases I do not speak French. Aside from the previous proposition that English lends a certain tourist authority, Dodie pointed out that if I force the person being a bug to put their case in a language unfamiliar to them, they would perhaps rather not bother.

We now put our bikes in the small reception area, blocking the vending machines that occupied one wall. We then dumped our many panniers and bags and began the slow loading process. I expected the lady to tell us to quit blocking the area and to go do it in the rain, and I was all geared up to only know English. But "sadly" she said nothing.

The second disputed 10 feet of bike crossing space for this tour.

We are really pleased to report that later in the day a different person completely erased the reception/breakfast lady's obstructive attitude with a feat of amazing "let's get it done". That's coming up in a few more lines.

We found Dreux a very pleasant place. Here is a last look from the hotel to the mostly car free square.

We had been looking forward to a quite short ride into Chartres on a voie verte, but as it happened we had to pedal the white line in the rain 10 km just to reach the darn voie verte!

Between us and the voie verte was, of course, another Route Barree.

On first inspection it seemed like we would be able to follow whatever path the workers were using to get around the site, but one worker approached us and said there was absolutely no way for us to pass. Dodie showed him our GPS track, indicating that there really was no other way for us. He absorbed this for a moment, and said ok, let's try it.

Just by age I would guess our worker to the foreman. He led us forward, cutting ribbons and moving barriers, but soon we came to some of the real problem. To proceed I would need to take the bike on a narrow ledge beside a two foot wide and very deep trench. Then the bike and I would need to jump that trench. The foreman expressed a concern that if the plan went south they would be responsible. But I said ok, here I go. I'm not sure if I could really have jumped the trench with the bike, but there was no need to find out. A small gang of workers grabbed the bike and hoisted it where it needed to go, repeating for Dodie's bike. At one point Dodie hesitated at a two foot cliff and a worker extended his arms, calling "Jump!"

The grey haired man looking on above is our "foreman". We were really impressed by his non-officious approach to helping us on our way. Naturally the episode ended with a lot of thank yous and hand shakes.

The voie verte did not turn out to be a protected bikeway, but the signage was good and the roads reasonably quiet. In fact, we were on the Veloscenie, a signed route from Paris to Mont St Michel. I love these branded routes. There are quite a few of them throughout France.

Sharp eyes Dodie spotted our hotel across a roundabout, and soon frozen and totally dripping wet, we were unloading the bikes. The small room lacked space for all the wet clothes, but we managed. Soon, reasonably recovered, we walked out toward the cathedral.

We approached the cathedral from the north side , rather than the front, so our first view of it was rather unconventional.

The front view is this, showing clearly the two not identical towers.

All sides of the cathedral are plentifully covered with carvings. This again is the north side.

The lines of carvings, seen at so many other major cathedrals as well.

There is a lot of action when you look in detail.

On this side statues seemed either well preserved or restored.

Inside the cathedral it was not in fact the soaring gothic arches that created the focus of attention. Rather it was a huge wall of carvings, that enclosed the choir area. The wall was comprised of equal aized sections, each with carvings depicting some bible scene. The choir wall, or screen, was initiated in 1514 and is 7 meters high and 100 meters long. There are 40 of the sculpted scenes, and they have a loose theme of the story of Mary and her son, from the announcement that he was on the way to the Coronation of Mary and the Ascension of Christ.

In the choir screen was also an astronomical clock, which was added in 1528. Interestingly, this was before Galileo was born, much less accepted. But the clock was still needed, for example to predict the arrival of Easter. Perhaps, as subsequent science has shown, even if your underlying theory is not spot on you can still sometimes get useful results from it.

As you see, the clock reported which house of the Zodiac we were in. In the stained glass opposite the clock, the houses were portrayed.

Beyond the choir screen, the stained glass of this cathedral was dramatically impressive.

Above the main altar. This is a common postcard shot.

Saint Therese de Liseux is one of the most popular saints. She is even famous with us, mainly because of town of Ste Therese, near Montreal. Therese was born in 1873, making this her 150th birthday. In a chapel in the cathedral it is also her parents, Louis and Zelie Martin who come in for recognition. They made a pilgrimage to Chartres in 1873 to pray for the health of Therese.

Outside the front of the cathedral we had a further look at the carving, such as the Jesus, animals, and angels above the door.

We were distracted by some repeated fly-bys of France's aeronautic jet team. They had red white and blue streamers, and at one point drew a heart with them. School kids, tourists, and us were really thrilled to see this, in front of the cathedral. We later learned that they were practicing for Charles III, who is visiting the country just now.

The precinct around the cathedral is not staggeringly gorgeous, but it is extremely attractive.

This building directly facing the cathedral was for sale. What a great BnB opportunity.

Our walk to and around the cathedral was 3.6 km of fun. So far we do not know where "downtown" Chartres might be. If we spot it on our way to Tours, we'll have a look, but if not, we'll have to come back.

Heart

Comment

Link

Final shot - the jets fly by the cathedral.

Today's ride: 56 km (35 miles)
Total: 1,370 km (851 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	11
Comment on this entry	Comment	0